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Secondary breast cancer 1st line of treatment

Donant
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Hello,my wife has been having fulvestrant injections,I and have just completed first 28 days on pablociclib,which for the last 10 days she has been horrendous,a night in hospital on a drip as well.We have our oncologist appointment Monday,and have just had a call  off nurse who has said they're discussing coming off pablociclib.I'm a little concerned,obviously I want my wife to not feel like she has been,but we were told the treatment she is having is the gold standard,we are a little concerned if my wife can't tolerate pablociclib,what else could she have,and is it as good ?........... I've read women have been on pablociclib for years ,it's that good........I'm just scared something else won't be as good 

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    We weren't dealing with secondary cancer, but my wife nearly got pulled off of Docetaxel for breast cancer because she kept ending up in the hospital. Fortunately, they decided to keep going, but didn't increase the dose as they had initially planned to. So i can relate to the fear of being told the best treatment for their set of circumstances may not go ahead. Or not receiving the treatment/dosage that is recommended as per the text books.

    It is scary, and not a place you want to find yourselves in because there's enough going on as it is without another spanner being thrown into the works. But the reality is, the drugs are being given to help preserve life, and if they're putting her in immediate danger, being swapped over to something else is in her interest. Second line of defence drugs can just be as potent at dealing with the cancer as the first line of drugs. So whilst it is scary, it doesn't always mean her chances have decreased compared to what they were prior to taking pablociclib.

     

  • Hello Donat and thank you for your reply,

    I am sorry to hear about your wife's situation.

    The doctors caring for your wife have to carefully weigh up the risks and benefits of any treatment they prescribe. It sounds like they have decided to review your wife's situation in light of her becoming unwell with the treatment.  This will be discussed with you and your wife and it is possible that they will want to stop the pablociclib if they feel it is too dangerous to carry on. If this is the case then they will hopefully be able to offer another treatment that is recommended for women in your wife's situation. 

    If she is offered another treatment then you will be told all about it including the potential for side effects and the benefits it will have. This treatment would not necessarily be inferior to the pablococlib. We have information on the different treatments for breast cancer on our website www.cancerresearchuk.org/.../breast-targeted-cancer-drugs , if you scroll down to the section on targeted treatments you will see that there are a few different ones, your wife's specialist may want to prescribe one of these for your wife although I cannot be sure of that.

    I hope your wife is better and that this appointment goes well.

    Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

    Take care,

    Caroline 

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